Passover Thoughts #5

Unleavened Bread: Which Day?

Scripture has much to say about Unleavened bread, and even tells us what kind of bread was eaten at the Last Supper. We concluded in the previous writing, however, that the type of bread eaten at the Last supper can not be determined simply by observation of the Greek and Hebrew words for bread. Now we will see the answer hidden in plain view, as we look at the Days of Unleavened Bread in Scripture.

The Days of Unleavened Bread In Scripture

What day is this, according to Scripture?

“Now the first day of the [feast of] unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? 18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.” (Matthew 26:17-19)

“And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover? 13 And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. 14 And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?” (Mark 14:12-14)

Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. (Luke 22:7-8)

“And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 12 And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. 13 And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. (Luke 22:11-13)

And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. (Luke 22:13-14)

We are told in the above passages in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that when the day of Unleavened Bread came, it was the start of the 24-hour period in which the Passover (sacrifice) Lamb must be killed.

This is not the 7-day Feast of Unleavened, but the 24-hour period of Passover, in which the leaven is to be removed, and the Passover lamb killed in a leaven-free environment.

We see also that when the hour [sunset] had arrived, this marked the beginning of the 14th day according to Scripture; and it was at this time that that the Disciples sat down to have the Last Supper.

But according to Scripture, which day of the month is the Lamb to be killed?

Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. (2Chr 35:1)

In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. (Lev 23:5)

And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD. (Numbers 28.16)

The Passover was to be killed on the “14th day” of the first [Biblical] month. We also saw above in Mark 14:12 that this day is also the first day of Unleavened Bread.

Unleavened Bread: First Day

According to Scripture, the 14th day is the first day of having ‘no leaven’ in the homes. The 14th day begins at sunset, and goes for 24 hours to the next sunset. Prior to this day, all Leaven was to be gone from all the houses (Ex 12:15). It was also the day in which the roasted Lamb was to be eaten with unleavened Bread, at the exact time corresponding to the Israelites’ Passover meal in Egypt, seen in Exodus:

And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. (Exodus 12:8)

Notice that this meal seen in Exodus included Unleavened bread. Notice also that this fourteenth day was not the first day of the ‘Feast’ of Unleavened; the ‘Feast’ of Unleavened would begin 24 hours later, at the start of the fifteenth day.

Let’s see why there must be no leaven on the 14th day, the day of Passover seen above in Exodus 12:8.

We are told that the Passover sacrifice requires the removal of all leaven, based on the clear words of Torah:

Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. (Exodus 23:18)

Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning. (Exodus 34:25)

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: (1Corinthians 5:7)

From the above Scripture passages, we see that there can be no leaven present at all during the 14th day — the day of the Passover sacrifice.

Since we see that the Last Supper was held in the evening, at the beginning of this 14th Day, we realise that all leaven would have been thoroughly removed previously. There would therefore be no leaven allowed after sunset beginning the 14th day, hence only unleavened bread would be present at the meal.

So the first day of Unleavened Bread is the 14th day, the same day the lambs are to be killed, as we saw above in Mark 14:12.

Unleavened Bread: Next Seven Days

The close of the 14th day at sunset marks the beginning of the 15th day, and the beginning of the 7-day Feast of Unleavened:

And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein [a ‘High’ Sabbath]. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein [another ‘High’ Sabbath]. (Lev 23:6-8)

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. (Exodus 12:18)

Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. (Exodus 12:19)

Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. (Exodus 13:7)

The Torah requirement for the 7-day Feast of Unleaven is that no leaven is to be found in the home during this time.

So we see not only does the one day of Passover require Unleavened bread, but the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread also requires that no leaven be present for the next seven days, so Unleavened bread is eaten during this time. The day of Passover is simply the first day of all these days of Unleavened Bread.

Down through time there has been much confusion about these matters. However, when we look at Yahushua as our pattern, we can easily see the Truth.

Yahushua As Our Pattern

Yahushua was our perfect sacrifice, because He was without sin, without corruption — He was without ‘Leaven.’ He is our Passover (sacrifice), who was sacrificed for us (1Co 5:7).

He is also our example. In accordance with the pattern of His Unleavened Passover, even we are to live our lives as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, without Leaven, but with sincerity and Truth.

Just as the Master lived a life without Leaven as our Passover sacrifice, our goal is to live out our lives as the Feast of Unleavened, a life free of ‘Leaven.’ The seven days of the Feast of Unleaven speak of our time of preparation as Yahushua’s Disciples, while going through our process of ‘sevens’ — of preparation and completion, of ‘perfecting of the saints’ (Eph 4:12).

So we see there is one day of Unleavened required for the Feast of Passover, and then 7 days of Unleavened required for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for a total of eight days of Unleavened Bread.

How does this agree with the traditions resulting from the Captivity in Babylon?

Religious systems that fail to recognise the Unleavened Life of The Master as our Passover, see only a 7-day Feast of Unleavened beginning on the fifteenth day.

Conclusion

The Scriptures have revealed the following truths:

In our previous writing, we concluded that the Greek and Hebrew words used for bread are used for both Leavened and Unleavened Bread; and so from this alone we could not conclude which type of bread was used at the Last Supper.

The Torah requirement for removal of all Leaven by the start of the 14th day tells us there was no Leaven present at the Last Supper at the start of the 14th day.

Therefore according to the Scriptures, we must conclude the bread eaten at the last Supper could have been only Unleavened Bread.

Dates for Passover and Unleavened Bread

For the upcoming Biblical dates of Passover and Unleavened Bread Feast days, see the Latest Updates Page.

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